Relatable ski names and graphics for women

[Jenny]

The rebel alliance!

 

[Jilly]

Those look nice....now for you to find out how they ski!!

 

[Wendy]

The All mountain skis will now be called Alliance, which reflects the K2 Alliance program that K2 has has for several years, promoting their women's ski program.
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The frontside skis will be called Anthem to fall in line with Alliance, more empowering and less cute.

THIS is great! I like the ski graphics, too!
I think I saw some of the men’s Mindbenders at the show the other week. I didn’t have time to take a closer look, unfortunately. I was put on a softgoods mission.

 

[laine]

What I hate is really infantilized names and topsheets for women. I've said it in another thread and I've mentioned it to a friend who's on the K2 Alliance, but I really, really hate the Luv line. Luvs are diapers. Going to a ski shop to try on a pair of Luvs? Better hope they know you mean the ski boot. FulLUVit? You call someone "full of it" when they're not credible or overconfident. Weird thing to name a ski. Weird message for women.

This. And the Temptations too. I didn't even demo any of those skis. I'm glad the Mindbender Alliance are here. I'd be happy to give them a shot.

I don't care flor the naming convention in Fischer using my for ladies skis, seems condescending somehow. Even though how the ski performs is most important to me, I do generally prefer cool designs on skis, love bright colors.

Also really don't like the "MyRanger". Agreed that it sounds like My Buddy or My Little Pony. But I do like a lot of the other variations like the Birdie or Alliance or the W or L - something that doesn't seem to diminish women.

I also don't love skis that try to be frilly or pastel-y. But generally, I don't buy a ski for the topsheet. I still have my old Nordica Nemesis skis (current rock skis) and they look like a unicorn threw up on them (https://www.skimag.com/gear/nordica-nemesis-2013).

I am one of the women on this site who pretty much only buys women's skis. At 5'1", most men's skis are just too long. It doesn't need to be a women's ski per se - but I need to be able to bend it - so the manufacturers can't just shrink a men's ski to a 158. They do need to adjust the construction some. I'd be fine if they just adjusted skis for smaller, lighter skiers. That works too. Either way, as long as it works for my height/weight, I'm good. I do prefer bold colors and interesting designs, but that is so subjective, I'm not sure how they design for that.

 

[Tricia]

OK That's a cool "Pink"

wait until you see the whole ski.

 

[Tricia]

I am one of the women on this site who pretty much only buys women's skis. At 5'1", most men's skis are just too long. It doesn't need to be a women's ski per se - but I need to be able to bend it - so the manufacturers can't just shrink a men's ski to a 158. They do need to adjust the construction some. I'd be fine if they just adjusted skis for smaller, lighter skiers. That works too. Either way, as long as it works for my height/weight, I'm good. I do prefer bold colors and interesting designs, but that is so subjective, I'm not sure how they design for that.

Look what happens when a ski is shrunk and not scaled for a smaller skier, be it a woman or a man. You and @Pequenita skied the non scaled version of the Renoun Z-90. That is a stiff ski for someone your size. However, when he made a version that was softer...

 

[Analisa]

One of the comments that gets made is that "we're not your average female skiers," but I think it's important to note how women find & buy skis. As mentioned, comprehensive, nuanced reviews are few and far between. Even if you come across one or two, it's not critical mass where you can get an understanding of who the ski is really built for. Shops aren't much of a help either since they're mainly staffed by men who talk about what they really like, but you do a lot of guess work about how their experience "converts" to a woman's body and a woman's ski.

A lot of the shopping experience is social. I've noticed that the women in the circles I ski with ask "how do you like those?" about a zillion more times than the guys do. And it shows when you look at what women are buying. The regional leaders for SheJumps in the PNW both ski Crystal. One is part of the K2 Alliance and has been on the Love Boats and the other skis Pandora 110s inbounds and Camox Freebirds out. Those 3 skis are really common at that resort. Likewise, I have a group of 5 friends who all ski Soul7s or Sky7s after the strongest skier in the group demoed them, loved them, and kept pushing her friends to try them. I picked out my Pandoras after talking to lots of strangers on ski lifts. I demoed the Atris Birdies after a friend with a really strong race background kept talking about them. The best way to sell a woman skis is to sell them to the woman she turns to for gear advice or wants to emulate in her skiing.

For Fischer specifically, I think the graphics and names are only a small factor in why they have such a small piece of the women's freeride market with their Ranger line. The model's pretty simple. Make a ski that's strong enough for your female athletes but approachable enough for strong recreational skiers, like your Sheevas, Atris Birdies, Backlands, and Stellas. Find a really happy medium with names & colors that works for the "cool girl" in khaki & muted colors, as well as the girl with a Skittles-colored kit. Go a little more colorful as you move to narrower/softer skis (a la this year's Pandora line). Make demos widely available. Get involved in community groups and events for women's skiing. Get the right ski in the hands of the right reviewers - Fischer did themselves no favors by getting the soft, very forward mounted 98s in the hands of a lot of expert testers who really overpowered it and had few good things to say about it. Make the pricing make sense - competing with other intermediate-friendly skis in the mid-90s, the My Ranger is a lot more expensive than the Lux, Vantage, Sheevas, Black Pearls, Ripsticks, Pandoras, or Victas. It's exciting to see Blizzard figure this out to expand the success of the Sheeva into their more aggressive skis, or how K2's driving a ton of buzz for the Mindbender while all the eye-roll-worthy Luvs are still on the shelves. It's also easy to see why I counted 8 pairs of Fischer men's skis on my lift chairs just this weekend, yet have literally never seen a pair of My Rangers in real life.

 

[Tricia]

@Analisa to your point, you have no idea how many times a woman stands in front of me on the ski wall at the shop and is giddy that she has found a woman who knows the product and cares about setting her up for success.

 

[Tricia]

Liberty is introducing the women's version of the VMT (Vertical Metal Technology) soon (like really soon) so stay tuned for the full images.
The W is subtle and they added some pink but its a pink that blows my mind, its so gorgeous.
Teaser
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Facebook Live in less than 10 minutes.

 

[RuleMiHa]

Facebook Live in less than 10 minutes.

That is a gorgeous ski. Feminine but not childish. Beautiful design!

 

[Jerez]

If I hadn't already bought the Stoklis I'd be all over this. Liberty makes wonderful skis!

 

[Andy Mink]

That is a gorgeous ski.

Yes, I know I'm a guy so no mansplaining or input except for a closeup photo. These are really rich looking skis. They look better in person; I couldn't get the glare to go away. I wish they came in a longer length!

 

[Sandy_NYC]

@Tricia , to answer your original question, I am very much against the idea of women's specific ski graphics. I hate most of them and am discouraged by how often I see purple, pink, turquoise, as well as flowery, flowy designs on women's skis and gear. Those traditionally feminine colors and wispy, flowery shapes don't make me feel like a badass at all! And I want to feel like a badass.

From a purely aesthetic point of view, my favorite ski graphics are the simple, geometric, angular designs on Black Crows skis. So you can understand why I feel this way!

I do think the 2019 Head Super Joy women's skis are a step in the right direction. I hope women's ski graphics keep trending in this direction! (Although I do strongly argue that women's skis don't need their own graphics...)

Here are some examples of women's ski graphics I dislike:

 

[Tricia]

Ladies, I just got done with day one at Outdoor Retailer and I am happy to report that three different manufacturers have read this thread (that we know of) and I only sent a link to one of these manufacturers when I started it.

They are paying attention.

 

[Mike Rogers]

Her resort skis are the Black Crow Camox (not the Birdie) and the Moment Wildcat.

She isn't that attracted to a lot of the branding and artwork on many lady's skis.

She does likes the branding/artwork on the lady's moments (the sierra especially)

https://www.momentskis.com/products/sierra

Just an update. Liz pulled the trigger on the Sierras. Arriving today!

The branding, artwork, her experience on the Moment Wildcats, discussion with people from Moment, and a very enthusiastic review. on Blister influenced her derision.

 

[Jenny]

Ladies, I just got done with day one at Outdoor Retailer and I am happy to report that three different manufacturers have read this thread (that we know of) and I only sent a link to one of these manufacturers when I started it.

They are paying attention.

That's nice to hear . . .

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Bringing back this thread. What do you guys think abut Fischer dropping the My? They have essentially dropped the women's line and are producing skis for lighter skiers and skis for heavier skiers with pretty much the same graphics across the line. The same for boots. I am amused by the Ranger 102 which they did the opposite of shrink it and pink it. They made it bigger - and pinked it.

 

[VickiK]

What do you guys think abut Fischer dropping the My?

Good. I never did like the "My" in the Fischer women's line. I had to look past it to the skis themselves, but it just grated on me. If I had to say why I didn't like it, well it sounds precious. "My" skis, not yours. My Precioussssss.

 

[cantunamunch]

Bringing back this thread. What do you guys think abut Fischer dropping the My? They have essentially dropped the women's line and are producing skis for lighter skiers and skis for heavier skiers with pretty much the same graphics across the line. The same for boots. I am amused by the Ranger 102 which they did the opposite of shrink it and pink it. They made it bigger - and pinked it.

So I showed her the ISPO marketing blurb. Herself likes the idea - she likes Fischer just as ungendered as they were prior to the 'My'. And she's peeved about not getting chances to demo. If Head can sponsor a womens' camp - with appropriate demos available- can Fischer look into it?

 

[Andy Mink]

They made it bigger - and pinked it

You can get it in blue too! I kind of like the idea of building skis for skiers. There are smaller guys who would do better on what traditionally would be a women's ski and there are women who would do better on traditionally men's skis.